Second Amendment TIMELINE
Automatic firearms are
regulated
Federal regulation
of gun sales begins
Mandatory registration
of shotguns is approved
1934
1938
1939
Following an attempt on the life of Presidentelect Franklin D. Roosevelt with a handgun in
1933, Congress passes the National Firearms
Act of 1934. The nation’s first federal gun control law taxes the manufacture, sale, and transfer of fully automatic firearms and “gangstertype weapons,” including machine guns and
sawed-off shotguns. It also requires FBI background checks and local law enforcement notification for people who wish to purchase these
weapons.
In United States v. Miller, the U.S. Supreme
Court upholds the mandatory registration of
sawed-off shotguns under the National Firearms
Act as constitutional. Rejecting a challenge that
cites the Second Amendment, the Court rules
that these types of guns are not part of any ordinary military equipment, that their use cannot
contribute to the common defense, and that their
possession does not have any relationship to the
preservation of a militia.
The Federal Firearms Act of 1938 requires
gun sellers to obtain a license from the
Internal Revenue Service to sell guns and
to maintain a record of purchases. The act
also prohibits convicted felons from purchasing firearms or ammunition. However,
the law makes no provision for criminals
who provide false information when they
purchase weapons.
Franklin D.
Roosevelt, 1933
Photo:
Library of Congress
Sawed-off shotgun
Photo: Bradosh / WikiMedia Commons
Congress enacts expanded
gun regulations
1968
In 1927, Congress had passed legislation that
banned mailing such concealable weapons as
cane guns and pen guns, but until 1968 there is
no law that regulates the mailing of rifles, shotguns, or handguns. Following the assassination
of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 and the
gun-related assassinations of Reverend Martin
Luther King Jr. and Senator Robert Kennedy
in 1968, Congress enacts the Gun Control Act.
The act regulates imported guns, expands licensing and record keeping requirements, bans
mail-order sales of guns and ammunition, raises
the age at which one can legally buy a gun, and
prevents convicted felons, mentally ill people,
and illegal drug users from buying guns.
The Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, and Firearms is created
1968
Displeased with the lack of vigorous enforcement of federal gun control laws,
Congress separates the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) (since
renamed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives) from the Internal Revenue Service and forms it as a separate law enforcement organization within
the U.S. Department of Justice.
The Firearm Owner’s
Protection Act is passed
1987
Congress responds to complaints from gun
owners by repealing some federal restrictions
on the purchase of out-of-state rifles and shotguns with the Firearm Owner’s Protection Act.
Proponents of the act argue that the laws did
little to reduce crime. The act also permits citizens to transport “unloaded and inaccessible”
guns from one state to another, regardless of
local laws.
ATF logo
Photo:
WikiMedia Commons
Second Amendment TIMELINE
Government seeks to make
school zones gun-free
The Brady Law requires
background checks
Semiautomatic weapons are
banned
1990
1994
1994
The Gun-Free School Zones Act makes it a federal crime to knowingly bring a gun within a
thousand feet of a school, or to fire a gun within
that zone. However, in United States v. Lopez
(1995), the U.S. Supreme Court rules that Congress overstepped its constitutional authority
under the commerce clause when it passed this
act. The Court finds that the punishment of gun
possession and gun use near schools is a matter
for each state to regulate on its own.
Drug Free
School Zone
Photo:
iStockphoto/
InCommunicado
Domestic violence offender
gun ban is enacted
1996
Despite increasing opposition in Congress to
gun control laws, advocates manage to amend
an omnibus spending bill to prohibit anyone
convicted of a domestic violence offense from
owning or possessing a gun.
Seal of United States Congress
Photo: WikiMedia Commons
The Brady Law is named for former
Presidential press secretary James
Brady, who was seriously wounded
during the 1981 assassination attempt
on President Ronald Reagan. The
law requires federally licensed firearm dealers to perform background
checks with law enforcement officials
before selling a firearm. During the
background check, officials confirm
whether the buyer falls within a category of individuals prohibited from
owning or possessing a firearm by
state law or the 1968 Gun Control
Act. In Printz v. United States (1997)
the U.S. Supreme Court holds that the
Brady Law’s waiting-period requirement is constitutional, but finds that
the mandatory background checks
required of local authorities are unconstitutional.
The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement
Act of 1994 bans nineteen types of semiautomatic
weapons and ammunition clips holding more than
ten rounds (except for military or police use). It
also bans handgun possession by anyone under
age eighteen and increases the requirements for
federal gun dealer licenses.
Franklin D.
Roosevelt, 1933
Photo:
Library of Congress
ATF inspector at a federally-licensed gun
dealer
Photo: WikiMedia Commons
Smith & Wesson reaches
a settlement
2000
In the first settlement of its kind, the gun
manufacturer Smith & Wesson reaches a
settlement in many of the lawsuits brought
against it by municipalities around the
country, including Atlanta; Berkeley, California; Bridgeport, Connecticut; Camden,
New Jersey; Detroit; Gary, Indiana; Englewood, New Jersey; Los Angeles, MiamiDade; San Francisco; St. Louis; and Washington, D.C. The settlement binds Smith
& Wesson to change the way it designs
and distributes its guns. The company
is required to install safety mechanisms
including child safety locks and “smart
gun” technology and sell only to authorized dealers who can prove that the guns
they sell are not disproportionately used in
crimes.
Smith and Wesson Factory, Springfield,
Massachusetts, circa 1908
Photo: Library of Congress